Climate of Cairns

Cairns has a Tropical climate, with generally hot and
humid Summers and milder dryer Winters. The average annual
rainfall is 1992mm on an average 154 days. The majority of
Cairn's rainfall occurs during summer between January and
March.

The monsoon trough is close to Cairns from December to March
bringing with it warm to hot, humid conditions and the
possibility of thunderstorms and tropical cyclones.
Thunderstorms regularly develop over the ranges inland from
Cairns, but seldom move off the ranges across the City.

The months from May to October are dominated by the
sub-tropical ridge, with Cairns under the influence of the
south east trade stream. These moist onshore winds often
produce diurnal showers, peaking overnight and morning and
weakening during the afternoon..

The tropics has fairly uniform temperatures throughout the
year. Typical daytime min/max temperature ranges in Cairns
are 23C/31C in mid-Summer and 18C/26C in mid-Winter.

The prevailing winds are East to Southeasterly with strongest
winds (cyclones excluded) usually occuring during April and
August. During the summer months, North to Northeasterly
sea breezes dominate the winds along the coast.

The cyclone season is normally confined to between December
and April but exceptions do occur. The most active year to
date from official records was 1977, when Cairns was
influenced by four tropical cyclones.